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Consumers Eye Hybrids Despite Gas Prices

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

November 6, 2006

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New car consumers are still taking a long look at hybrids despite low gasoline prices.

Hybrid sales are down slightly but 23 percent of consumers participating in an Autobytel Quick Poll report they have already bought or plan to buy a hybrid for their next vehicle purchase and 59 percent said they are considering a hybrid for their next purchase.

Consumers are still skeptical that relatively low gas prices will last with 95 percent of those responding to the Quick Poll indicating they thing gasoline prices will go up again soon.

Interest in the popular Toyota Prius is holding steady. While the waiting list for the hybrid is getting shorter, the Prius is still difficult to find.

When gasoline prices averaged near $3 a gallon, car buyers shopping for a Prius were told they had to wait several months for the car and demand was so strong that used Priuses were selling at prices above the manufacturer's suggested price for a new one.

Waiting lists for the Prius still stand at roughly 45 to 60 days, according to Toyota. The waitng list remains even with Prius sales off 12 percent in October, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

Toyota has increased production of the hybrid and supply is catching up with buyer demand for the first time since the car went on sale in 2003.

The little cars quickly move off of dealer lots with the amount of time a Prius sits on a lot less than 20 days, suggesting that the waiting list is likely to continue fore some time to come.

Perhaps contributing to the October Prius sales decline, the federal tax credit available to Prius buyers has been significantly reduced. Tax credits phase out for a given vehicle manufacturer once that company sells 60,000 eligible vehicles.

Toyota reached that mark in May, 2006 and the tax credit for Toyota hybrid vehicles went down in September. The tax credit for a new Prius was $3,150 but is now $1,575 and is set to fall in January to $787.50.

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